My instincts were telling me the identity of the loving eyes that had watched over my journey, and I was full of happiness to think I would soon be with him.
Sooner than I thought: I heard the door to the alleyway creak open, footsteps came hurriedly along the passage and Jack stood there, drawn sword in his right hand and knife in his left.
He looked at me in amazement. ‘You!’ He lowered his weapons, putting the sword in its scabbard and the knife through his belt.
‘Er – yes,’ I agreed. Why was he so surprised? He’d been tailing me all the way from Aelf Fen, so wouldn’t he know I was in Gurdyman’s house?
The shock in his face was rapidly replaced by a smile. ‘I’m very glad to see you, Lassair, but what are you doing here?’
‘Well, I just thought I’d check to see if Gurdyman had come back,’ I said tentatively.
He shook his head. ‘I didn’t mean here in this house. I meant here in Cambridge.’
My confusion increased. For the second time that day I explained about the assault on Squeak, my certainty that the Night Wanderer was the assailant, and my fears for my family. ‘But I was right, wasn’t I?’ I could hear the pleading in my voice. ‘There was no danger on the journey, as I was sure there wouldn’t be if I was careful and took those little-travelled tracks.’
Now it was Jack who was confused. ‘Is that what you did? It was a wise precaution, but I still think it was rash.’
Is that what you did? I heard the words again inside my head. He had no idea what route I’d taken from Aelf Fen to the town; had had no idea I was even here, until he’d walked in on me just now.
‘What are you doing here?’ I asked, far too brusquely; he could not have guessed why I was upset.
‘I’ve been checking on this house ever since you left,’ he replied. ‘When you came in just now you left the door ajar – anyone could have followed you in – and I came to see who had broken in.’ Then, his expression changing, ‘Lassair, what’s wrong? Why are you angry?’
I shook my head. It was so stupid. But then, he was owed an explanation. ‘I thought you were following me,’ I admitted. ‘I imagined you’d decided to watch over me and make sure I came to no harm.’ Because that’s what the stone just told me, I could have added.
Or, at least, I’d thought it had…
He came swiftly over to me, crouching down beside Gurdyman’s chair. ‘Of course I would have done, had I known you were making the journey,’ he said with quiet force. ‘But I wouldn’t have hidden from you. I’d have wanted to enjoy the walk with you, not spend it watching from the shadows.’
It was so exactly the way I, too, would say he’d have acted that I knew he was telling the truth. ‘Thank you,’ I muttered.
He stood up. ‘Although I wish you were miles away, I really am pleased to see you,’ he said, ‘because there are many things I want to discuss with you.’ Oh, I thought, disappointment flowing through me. Not because of the pleasure of my company then, or because you really, really want to kiss me again. ‘We’ll go back to my house,’ he was saying, already walking off along the passage, ‘and I’ll prepare food for us. You must be ravenous.’
We took our usual roundabout route back to the deserted village. I was eager to see what the mood in the town was, whether fear and mistrust had increased, what people were thinking and feeling, but we saw barely a soul. The town is dying, I thought. It was dramatic, but I was very afraid it was true.
Walking along behind Jack, I wondered who, if not him, had been my loving benefactor that day. Almost straight away I had the answer: Sibert. My dear friend, worried for me, anxious that I was going into danger and unable to persuade me otherwise, had risked the wrath of the overseer and followed me all the way across the fens till I was picked up by the fat woman in the cart. How lucky I was in my friends, I reflected. I just hoped he hadn’t got into too much trouble for missing a day’s work.
The geese set up their usual alarm as Jack and I approached his house, and Jack quickly hushed them. They still, it seemed, took exception to my presence. We went into the house and he kicked up the fire. He put a stout bar across the door. Then he melted lard in a skillet and fried bacon and onions, throwing in roughly cut slices of bread to soak up the fats, and the simple food was some of the most delicious I’d ever tasted. The little room had quickly become warm and cosy, and, with food in my belly, I was starting to feel drowsy.
But when we had finished and were sitting side by side by the hearth, mugs of light ale in our hands, he said, ‘I need to tell you what’s been happening while you were away. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and I want to share my tentative conclusions with you, only you won’t follow them unless you know all that I know.’
‘Very well,’ I said. I gave myself an imaginary nudge in the ribs. Wake up and listen!
‘I’m still being kept well away from Gaspard Picot’s investigation,’ Jack said matter-of-factly, ‘and he’s now threatened the men he suspects of keeping me informed with dismissal and worse if they persist.’
‘So you’ve been working alone?’
Jack smiled. ‘Not entirely. Walter and his lads are just being a lot more careful.’
While it was heartening to think that the men’s loyalty to Jack outweighed their fear of retribution, nevertheless I felt anxious for them. ‘I hope so,’ I muttered.
There was a short pause. Then Jack said very quietly, ‘Lassair, many of us in this town heartily dislike the fact that our sheriff is a corrupt and self-serving man. Now that his nephew holds almost as much power – and he, if anything, is even worse – there’s a growing movement for change. I don’t have to cajole and bribe Walter and the others to work with me.’
I thought about it. ‘But you have charisma,’ I said slowly. ‘You’re someone people are willing to put their faith in, and that carries a heavy responsibility.’
He didn’t answer. I turned to look at him, and saw the awed expression on his face. He doesn’t realize, I thought.
‘If that is really so,’ he said eventually, ‘I shall have to make quite sure I don’t let them down.’ He topped up our mugs, then, in a different tone, said, ‘Now, this is what I’ve been thinking. There are two crimes being carried out: the murders and the thefts.’ He was talking quickly now, the words tumbling out, and I listened intently. ‘The murder victims are Robert Powl, Gerda, Mistress Judith, the young priest, Morgan and Cat. Each was killed in the same way, and surely by the same hand.’
Not a hand, a claw, I thought. I saw again that horrible wound on my brother Squeak’s shoulder and chest, and sent out a quick prayer that he was truly on the mend.
‘Now, the thefts,’ Jack continued. ‘Something was taken from the locked stone vault in the barn beside Robert Powl’s house; something that we have to conclude was very precious, either in monetary terms or in some other way, first, because he went to the expense of making a secure place in which to lock it up, and second, because whoever stole it went to great lengths to get at it.’
‘The thief knew it was there,’ I put in.
‘Yes, good,’ Jack said. ‘Knew, or perhaps, well aware of Robert Powl’s habits, guessed.’
‘His warehouse was searched,’ I said. ‘Everything had been turned upside-down.’
‘Yes,’ Jack said again, ‘and we concluded that something had been taken, although we couldn’t say what. Mistress Judith’s storeroom had also been searched, and you concluded from a consideration of what ought to have been there that some cinnabar was missing.’
‘I only thought it was something she’d probably have,’ I protested. ‘I don’t think we should see too much significance in its not being there.’